Vanes for fluid power converter

ABSTRACT

A self-pressurizing reversible vane for use in a fluid pump or motor in which the width of the vane is sufficient to provide a close tolerance fit against both sides of the slot to eliminate slap, but having grooves down each side of the vane to allow high-pressure oil to get under the vane and provide self-loading and allowing the converter to be reversible. Movable vane groovesealing means positioned at the bottom ends of the grooves and sized to seal only the groove means on the low-pressure side of the vane and being movable to the low-pressure side in response to pressure on the high-pressure side. A recess in the outer face of the vane admitting high-pressure fluid for providing pressure compensation for reducing mechanical losses.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Charles R. Gerlach San Antonio, Tex. [211 App]. No. 22,537 [22] Filed Mar. 25, 1970 [45] Patented Dec. 14, 1971 [73] Assignee Diversified Products Corporation Corpus Christi, Tex.

[54] VANES FOR FLUID POWER CONVERTER 9 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S. Cl 418/267, 418/268 [51] int. Cl F0lc1/00, F03c 3/00, F04c 27/00 [50] Field of Search 418/136, 137,138, 239, 267, 268

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 72,537 12/1867 Pettit 418/268 X 674,258 5/1901 Croston 418/267 920,976 5/1909 MillOl W 418/268 x Kovach 2,719,512 10/1955 418/267 3,223,044 12/1965 Adamsetal. 4l8/268X 2,216,053 9/1940 Staley 418/268 2,622,538 12/1952 Vincent 418/268 Primary Examiner-Carlton R. Croyle Assistant Examiner-John J. Vrablik Attorneys-James F. Weiler, Jefferson D. Giller, William A.

Stout, Paul L. DeVerter, ll, Dudley R. Dobie, Jr. and Henry W. Hope ABSTRACT: A self-pressurizing reversible vane for use in a fluid pump or motor in which the width of the vane is sufficient to provide a close tolerance fit against both sides of the slot to eliminate slap, but having grooves down each side of the vane to allow high-pressure oil to get under the vane and provide self-loading and allowing the converter to be reversible. Movable vane groove-sealing means positioned at the bot- VANES FOR FLUID POWER CONVERTER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The inventions herein described were made in the course of, or under a contract or subcontract thereunder, with the Department of the Army.

In existing vane-type hydraulic pumps and motors, the vanes are generally loaded against the stator, and sometimes against the rotor when the vanes are used on both the rotor and stator, by a combination of springs and fluid pressure. The present invention is directed to various improvements in vanes to provide a vane in which the fluid in the converter causes the vane to be pressurized against the riding surface without special fluid porting external to the vane and vane groove but in which the vane has a close tolerance fit in the vane slot to eliminate vane slap" which occurs in loose-fitting vanes. Other improvements are the provision of a vane which may be pressurized from either side thereby allowing the converter to be reversible but includes-a movable sealing unit preventing fluid leakage and further includes a pressure compensation recess in the vane to reduce mechanical losses.

SUMMARY One feature of the present invention is to provide a vane in a fluid power converter wherein the width of the vane in radial cross section is sufficient to provide a close tolerance fit against both sides of the vane slots for eliminating vane slap, but which provides fluid groove means down each side of the vane allowing high-pressure fluid to get under the vane and provide self-loading against the surface against which the vane is radially loaded, and since the vane has a groove on both sides, it can be loaded by a high pressure acting on either side thereby making the converter, reversible.

A further feature of the present invention is the provision of a self-loading and reversible vane for a fluid power converter wherein a movable seal means is positioned at the bottom end of the grooves and sized to seal only the groove on the lowpressure side of the vane and being movable to the low-pressure side of the vane in response to pressure on the high-pressure side of the vane.

Yet a further object of the present invention is the provision of a self-loading and reversible vane for a fluid power converter in which a fluid recess is provided along the top of the vane and includes a vent recess along at least one side for supplying compensating pressure against the top of the vane to reduce the radial force loading thereby reducing mechanical losses.

Yet a further object of the present invention is the provision of a self-pressurizing and reversible vane in which the vane is generally rectangular in cross section and having a groove extending down the middle of each side of the vane with an opening through the vane transverse to and intersecting both of the grooves with said vane opening housing the sealing means for sealing the low-pressure groove.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is an elevational schematic view in cross section of one type of fluid power converter having vane valve elements in both the rotor and stator,

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view illus trating one type of vane of the present invention,

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view illustrating a modified type of vane of the present invention,

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4, and

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The present invention is directed to various improvements in vanes or vane valve elements in a fluid motor or pump and while the present invention will be described in connection with a particular fluid motor or pump shown in FIG. 1 for purposes of illustration only, the improved vanes of the present invention are equally useful in other types of fluid motors and pumps.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to FIG. 1, the reference numeral 10 generally indicates the fluid power converter, for example, a hydraulic motor or pump in which the member 12 may be the stator and the member 14 may be the rotor with the inner periphery 16 of the stator and the outer periphery 18 of the rotor being suitably contoured to provide an annular fluid space 20 therebetween. The stator I2 may or may not include a plurality of radially extending vane receiving slots 22 each of which receive a vane or valve element 24 therein whose outer end contacts the outer periphery 18 of the rotor 14 as will be more fully described hereinafter. The rotor 14 may or may not also include vane elements, here shown as including radially extending vane receiving slots 30, which receive vane valve elements 32 therein the outer end 43 of which engages the inner periphery 16 of the stator 12. Thus, assuming fluid comes in the fluid inlet passages 26 and out the passages 28, the rotor 14 will rotate counterclockwise relative to the stator 12.

The foregoing description of one type of fluid motor and pump in which the improvements of the present vanes may be used is more fully described in copending Pat. application Ser. No. 883,692, entitled Fluid Power Converter, filed Dec. 10, 1969.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, an improved vane of the present invention is shown which provides selfJoading and reversible features as well as preventing vane slap. While the present invention and improvements may be applied to either the rotor or stator vanes, for purposes of illustration only, the rotor vanes 32 will be described, it being understood that the stator vanes 24 may be similarly constructed. The annular space 20 between the stator and rotor 12 and I4 is divided by the vanes 32 into a high-pressure portion 36 and a low-pressure portion 38.

A prior copending patent application entitled Vanes for Fluid Power Converter, Ser. No. 883,764, filed Dec. l0, I969, discloses vanes which are self-loading and reversible by virtue of being loosely fit into the vane slots. However, the loose fitting vanes caused a high noise level because of vane slap or the beating of the vanes against the sides of the vane slots, and also are responsible for some volumetric and mechanical efficiency loss.

It is to be noted that the width of the vane 32 in a radial cross section, is sufficient to provide a close tolerance fit against both sides of the vane receiving slot 30 thereby preventing vane slap with the consequential high noise level and volumetric and mechanical efficiency loss. Thus, the vanes 32 have sides 40 and 42 which slidably engage sides 44 and 46, respectively, of the slot 30. In order to provide selfpressurization one or more grooves 50 are provided along side 42 of the vane 32 thereby providing a fluid passageway to allow the high-pressure fluid in the passageway portion 36 of the annular space 20 to flow down the grooves 50 and act on the bottom end 54 of the vane 32 thereby providing a radially outwardly pressure loading against the stator 12 whereby the vane valve 32 prevents fluid communication between the high-pressure portion 36 and the low-pressure portion 38 of the annular space 20. And as best seen in FIG. 3, the side 40 of the vane 32 also includes one or more fluid passageway grooves 52 for allowing fluid pressure from annular space portion 38 to flow downwardly and act against the bottom side 54 of the vane 32 when the annular space portion 38 is the high pressure portion thus making the converter 10 a reversible apparatus. That is, in the event the pressure in the annular space portion 38 becomes the high-pressure portion and the converter 10 is reversed, high pressure will flow from an annular space portion 38 through the grooves 52 to act on the bottom 54 of the vane 32 to make the vane self-loading.

However, in order to prevent the high-pressure fluid from flowing down the grooves on one side of the vane 32, such as grooves 50 and leaking to the low-pressure side through the grooves 52 sealing means are provided. Thus sealing means such as a roller 56, which is movable to the low-pressure side of the vane 32 in response to the high-pressure fluid flowing through the grooves 50, seals against the bottom 54 of the vanes 32 and against the side 44 of the slot 30 to prevent highpressure fluid from flowing through grooves 52 and leaking to the annular space portion or low-pressure side 38. Of course, when the converter 10 is reversed and the annular space portion 38 becomes the high-pressure side, the high-pressure fluid will flow down the grooves 52 moving the sealing roller 56 over and under and blocking ofi'the bottom of the grooves 50 and will act on vane bottom 54 to provide self-loading. A subvane 60, not necessarily required, and a spring 62 may be utilized to hold the sealing means 56 against the lower end 54 of the vane 32 and the spring loading can also serve to keep the top end 43 of the vanes 34 sealed against the stator 12 when the converter 10 is run at high speeds and light loads.

However, in the event the pressure self-loading is excessive thereby causing mechanical losses, the normal force loading of the vanes 32 may be reduced by providing a recess 66 at the tope end 43 of the vanes 32 which is in communication with a recess or passageway 68 at one or both ends of the vanes 32. Thus high-pressure fluid may be supplied from the bottom 54 of the vane 32 and into the recess 66 to compensate for the pressure loading, which may be particularly helpful at high pressures to reduce mechanical frictional losses.

Referring now to FIGS. 4, and 6, a modified vane is shown which incorporates the subvane of FIGS. 2 and 3 into a onepiece vane design and is shown where like parts utilize a suffix "a" for convenience of reference. Thus, the vane 32a is generally rectangular in cross section and close fitting in the slot 30a to prevent vane slap andincludes a groove 50a on side 42a and a groove 52a on side 40a. The vane 32a includes an opening 70 therethrough transverse to and intersecting both of the grooves 50a and 52a for housing and retaining the groove-sealing means such as the cylinder 56 of FIG. 2 or a rectangular sealing means 72. Preferably, the vane opening 70 is longer that the width of the groove 50a and 52a to provide better sealing. Thus, the sealing means 72 is movable in the opening 70 to the low-pressure groove of the vane 32 in response to pressure flowing through the high-pressure groove to prevent leakage around the bottom 54a of the vane 32a but provides a vane which is self-loading and reversible.

While the vane 32a may include the pressure-compensating recess 66 and 68 of FIGS. 2 and 3, they have beenomitted from FIGS. 4-6 for convenience.

Thus, in use, the vanes of the present invention may be used in various types of fluid motors and pumps and provide a selfpressure loading vane which may be used in a reversing motor or pump without vane slap.

In addition, by the use of the pressure-compensating recesses 66 and 68 the vanes have a reduced amount of rubbing friction and increased mechanical efficiency by providing pressure compensation, particularly at high pressures.

The present invention, therefore, is well adapted to carry out the objects and attain the ends and advantages mentioned as well as others inherent herein.

What is claimed is:

1. In a fluid power converterhaving a rotor member and a stator member, the members being rotatable one with respect to the other with an annular fluid space therebetween, at least one of the members including a plurality of radially extending vane slots, the improvement in a vane positioned in each slot comprisin the widt of the vane, in a radial cross section, being suffcient to provide a close tolerance flt against both sides of the slot for preventing vane slap, said vane including fluid groove means down each side of thevane allowing fluid to pass from the annular space and into the slot and act on the bottom of the vane for providing a radially pressure loading against the othermember and also allowing the converter to reverse, and movable groove sealing means positioned at the ends of the groove means remote from the annular space, said sealing means being sized to seal only the groove means on the low-pressure side of the vane and being movable to the low-pressure side of the vane in response to pressure on the highpressure side of the vane for sealing said low pressure groove means. I

2. The apparatus of claim 1 including,

means for holding the sealing means radially against said ends of the groove means.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said sealing means is a cylinder.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said sealing means is rectangular in cross section.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the vane includes an opening for housing said sealing means.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 including a recess on the end of said vane contacting said other member and a passageway in communication between said recess and said slot for providing pressure compensation for reducing the loading against the other member.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 including,

a subvane positioned in the slot on the side of the sealing means remote from the vane, and

spring means in the slot yieldably urging the subvane against the sealing means. 7

8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the vane is generally rectangular in cross section,

the groove means extend down the middle of each side of the vane,

the vane includes an opening therethrough transverse to and intersecting both of the groove means, said opening housing the sealing means.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein said vane opening is longer than the width of the groove. 

1. In a fluid power converter having a rotor member and a stator member, the members being rotatable one with respect to the other with an annular fluid space therebetween, at least one of the members including a plurality of radially extending vane slots, the improvement in a vane positioned in each slot comprising, the width of the vane, in a radial cross section, being sufficient to provide a close tolerance fit against both sides of the slot for preventing vane slap, said vane including fluid groove means down each side of the vane allowing fluid to pass from the annular space and into the slot and act on the bottom of the vane for providing a radially pressure loading against the other member and also allowing the converter to reverse, and movable groove sealing means positioned at the ends of the groove means remote from the annular space, said sealing means being sized to seal only the groove means on the low-pressure side of the vane and being movable to the low-pressure side of the vane in response to pressure on the high-pressure side of the vane for sealing said low-pressure groove means.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 including, means for holding the sealing means radially against said ends of the groove means.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said sealing means is a cylinder.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said sealing means is rectangular in cross section.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the vane includes an opening for housing said sealing means.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1 including a recess on the end of said vane contacting said other member and a passageway in communication between said recess and said slot for providing pressure compensation for reducing the loading against the other member.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1 including, a subvane positioned in the slot on the side of the sealing means remote from the vane, and spring means in the slot yieldably urging the subvane against the sealing means.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the vane is generally rectangular in cross section, the groove means extend down the middle of each side of the vane, the vane includes an opening therethrough transverse to and intersecting both of the groove means, said opening housing the sealing means.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein said vane opening is longer than the width of the groove. 